Efficient data storage using two level delta resemblance

ABSTRACT

Storage using resemblance of data segments is disclosed. It is determined that a new segment resembles a second prior stored segment wherein the second prior stored segment is represented as a first stored delta and a first prior stored segment. A second delta between the new segment and the prior stored segment is determined. A representation of the new segment based at least in part on the second delta is stored.

CROSS REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/403,146, entitled EFFICIENT DATA STORAGE USING TWO LEVELDELTA RESEMBLANCE filed Apr. 11, 2006 which is incorporated herein byreference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One approach to efficiently store data is to prevent the redundantcopying of data that stay the same between backups. This efficientstorage is achieved by dividing the data streams from data sources intosegments and storing the segments and an index of identifiers to thesegments on a storage device. During subsequent backup operations, thedata streams are again segmented and the segments are looked up in theindex to determine whether a data segment was already stored previously.If an identical segment is found, the data segment is not stored again;otherwise, the new data segment and a new index identifier are stored.Unfortunately, as the amount of data that is to be backed up increases,the number of segments (if the segments are similarly sized) and thenumber of index entries increases. The increase in the number ofsegments and index entries leads to a reduction in access performance:for writing, an incoming segment index must be compared to all theentries in the index, and for reading, a segment associated with a filemust be retrieved from a larger number of segments. If the size of thesegments is increased, then the number of segments decreases andtherefore the number of index entries also decreases and performance canbe maintained; however, the storage efficiency drops because there arenot as many occurrences of the longer identical segments. It would bebeneficial if access performance could be maintained without sacrificingstorage efficiency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the followingdetailed description and the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a system forefficient storage using resemblance of data segments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of processing forefficient storage using resemblance of data segments.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a content storeprocess during writing.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a process forgenerating logical segments and computing summary feature sets.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a content storeprocess during reading.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a segment storeprocess during writing.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a process forresemblance determination.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a segment storeprocess for reading.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as aprocess, an apparatus, a system, a composition of matter, a computerreadable medium such as a computer readable storage medium or a computernetwork wherein program instructions are sent over optical or electroniccommunication links. In this specification, these implementations, orany other form that the invention may take, may be referred to astechniques. A component such as a processor or a memory described asbeing configured to perform a task includes both a general componentthat is temporarily configured to perform the task at a given time or aspecific component that is manufactured to perform the task. In general,the order of the steps of disclosed processes may be altered within thescope of the invention.

A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the invention isprovided below along with accompanying figures that illustrate theprinciples of the invention. The invention is described in connectionwith such embodiments, but the invention is not limited to anyembodiment. The scope of the invention is limited only by the claims andthe invention encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications andequivalents. Numerous specific details are set forth in the followingdescription in order to provide a thorough understanding of theinvention. These details are provided for the purpose of example and theinvention may be practiced according to the claims without some or allof these specific details. For the purpose of clarity, technicalmaterial that is known in the technical fields related to the inventionhas not been described in detail so that the invention is notunnecessarily obscured.

Efficient storage using resemblance of data segments is disclosed.Resemblance is determined by comparing a summary feature set of a firstsegment with a summary feature set of a second segment. In someembodiments, the first segment is a segment arriving from an input datastream, and the second segment is any segment that has been previouslystored from an input data stream in a backup storage system. In someembodiments, the first segment is associated with a first input datastream, and the second segment is associated with a second input datastream. In some embodiments, resemblance comprises a measure of a bytefor byte similarity between a first segment and a second segment. Asummary feature set is determined by selecting a plurality of eitherfixed length or variable length subsegments of a first segment; for eachsubsegment, computing a plurality of values by applying a set offunctions to each subsegment; and from all the values computed for allthe subsegments, selecting a first subset of values. In someembodiments, the first subset of values is used in determiningresemblance between the first segment and a second segment.

In some embodiments, under resemblance compression (efficiently storingdata segments using resemblance), a user write stream (corresponding toa whole file or an address range of a file or an address range ofconsecutive data for write) is broken into logical segments duringprocessing in content store. The logical segments are sent to segmentstore for compression and storage. Content store also receives segmentstore feedback in the form of segment descriptors, each of whichdescribes how a logical segment is compressed and represented in segmentstore. Content store maintains the mapping between the address range andits corresponding logical segments and segment descriptors returned fromsegment store. Content store is responsible for mapping an address rangeand its corresponding logical segments and segment descriptors andhanding segment store segment descriptors for a user read stream(corresponding to a whole file or an address range of a file or anaddress range of consecutive data for read), and receiving data forlogical segments. Content store under resemblance compression behaveslargely similar to that under identity compression.

In some embodiments, segments are represented as a composite of multiplephysical segments in segment store. To be more precise, each logicalsegment is represented as a base and a series of deltas of increasinglyhigher levels (or smaller sizes), where each base or delta is either awhole physical segment, or a part of a physical segment. A basecorresponds directly to a logical segment in content store, and isdenoted as d0. A one-level delta is the difference between two(different) logical segments, and is denoted as d1. A two-level delta isthe difference between two (different) d1's, and is denoted as d2.

In various embodiments, resemblance compression uses one-level deltacoding or two-level delta coding. In one-level delta coding, segmentstore represents each logical segment as a composite of a d0 that may beshared and an optional d1 that cannot be shared; in two-level deltacoding, segment store represents each logical segment as a composite ofa d0 that may be shared, an optional d1 that may be shared, and anoptional d2 that cannot be shared. A logical segment is denoted an e0 ifit's represented as a d0; a logical segment is denoted an el if itscorresponding highest-level delta is a d1; a logical segment is denotedan e2 if its corresponding highest-level delta is a d2. Identitycompression can be considered zero-level delta coding, where segmentstore represents each logical segment as a d0 that may be shared. Thereis no loss of information when the input data stream is stored in itscompressed form (e.g., when a new segment from the input data stream isstored).

In some embodiments, d0 is large, a d2 is small, and a d1 is substantialin two-level delta coding—for example, a d0 is 1 MB, a d2 is 10 KB, anda d1 is 100 KB. Two-level delta coding balances the need for moreaggressive compression (not only large d0 bases are shared among logicalsegments, substantial d1 differences are shared as well) and the needfor higher performance and scalability (small d2 differences are notshared among logical segments, and are not subject to various processingand maintenance). To facilitate detecting sharable d1's in two-leveldelta coding, the additional constraint is imposed that a d1 isone-to-one with respect to an e1 (implying the segment identifier for ad1 is inter-exchangeable with the segment identifier for an e1). Thisallows comparing the resemblance between a new logical segment andprevious e0's and e1's in the system using a summary technique calledsketch at the logical segment level without worrying about physicalsegments. After the resemblance is detected, the new logical segment iscoded as the composite of corresponding physical segments, either asharable d0 or a sharable d0 plus a sharable d1, plus an optionalnon-sharable d2.

In some embodiments, multiple d1's and d2's may be combined into asingle physical segment in segment store in a process called deltacombining Delta combining reduces the size of the location index thatmaps segment identifiers to their actual storage containers, and makeslocal compression more effective in segment store. It makes particularsense to combine d1's of the same logical stream in one-level deltacoding, or d2's of the same logical stream in two-level delta coding,because they are not shared, and die together when the correspondingfile is deleted from the system. If delta combining is performed insegment store, segment descriptors returned from segment store tocontent store should specify where each d1 or d2 starts and ends withinthe combined segment so that read and other operations can properlydiscern the particular d1 or d2 in the combined segment.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a system forefficient storage using resemblance of data segments. In the exampleshown, local restorer system 100 stores information without loss ofinformation in an input data stream that enables restoration of dataoriginally stored on a client system in the event that the data on theclient system is no longer available. Information is stored on aninternal storage device 104 or an external storage device 106 of localrestorer system 100. In various embodiments, internal storage device 104comprises one storage device or a plurality of storage devices and/orexternal storage device 106 comprises one storage device or a pluralityof storage devices. Local restorer 100 is in communication with remoterestorer 102. Remote restorer 102 stores a copy of information that isstored on local restorer system 100 also enabling restoration of dataoriginally stored on a client system. In various embodiments, localrestorer 100 is in communication with remote restorer 102 using adedicated communication link, one or more networks, a local areanetwork, a wide area network, a storage area network, the Internet, awired network, and/or wireless network.

Local restorer system 100 also communicates with a plurality of clientsystems with storage represented in FIG. 1 by client system with storage110 and 112 using network 120. In various embodiments, network 120comprises one or more networks, a local area network, a wide areanetwork, a storage area network, the Internet, a wired network, and/orwireless network. Local restorer system 100 also communicates withmedia/backup server 108 using network 120. Media/backup server 108communicates with a plurality of client systems with storage representedin FIG. 1 by client system with storage 114 and 116 using network 118.In various embodiments, network 118 comprises one or more networks, alocal area network, a wide area network, a storage area network, theInternet, a wired network, and/or wireless network. In some embodiments,media/backup server 108 backs up data on client systems with storagewhich in turn is backed up to local restorer system 100.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of processing forefficient storage using resemblance of data segments. In someembodiments, a restorer system such as local restorer system 100 of FIG.1 processes data from client systems to efficiently store informationand to restore data from the stored information. In the example shown,for writing data to storage, a linear data stream of bytes thatoriginates from one or more client systems is input into input/outputprocessing module 200. Data stream is passed to content store 202.Content store 202 generates logical segments, hands them to segmentstore 204 for compression and storage, waits for segment descriptors tobe returned, and maintains the mapping from data address information toits corresponding logical segments and segment descriptors. Segmentstore 204 receives logical segments from content store 202, doesresemblance compression to produce physical segments, locally compressesand packs physical segments into containers, and sends the results tocontainer store 206 for storage, and returns segment descriptors tocontent store 202. Container store 206 stores the containers in a harddrive, a hard drive array, a network attached drive or array, and/or aRAID system. For reading data from storage, a request to read data isreceived at input/output 200. The request is sent to content store 202in order to determine the relevant segment descriptors required toenable the requested data to be read. Content store 202 hands segmentdescriptors to segment store 204 for obtaining the segments anddecompression, waits for segment data to return, and returns therelevant data to input/output 200. Segment store 204 receives segmentdescriptors from content store 202, requests physical segment reads fromcontainer store 206, locally decompresses physical segments, composeslogical segments based on the physical segments, and returns segmentdata to content store 202. In various embodiments, physical segmentreads are from a hard drive, a hard drive array, a network attacheddrive or array, and/or a RAID system.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a content storeprocess during writing. In some embodiments, the content store writingprocess of FIG. 3 is implemented in content store 202 of FIG. 2. In theexample shown, in 300 data and associated address information arereceived from input/output block. For example, a tuple consisting of acertain file, a certain offset, and a certain length is received fromthe input/output block. In 302, logical segments are generated andsummary feature sets are computed. Logical segment generation, alsoreferred to as anchoring, generates variable sized content-dependent butaddress-independent logical segments from an input data stream. In someembodiments, anchoring is achieved by hashing a moving window along theinput data stream, and when the hash is equal to a particular value,defining a location with a fixed relation to the window in the inputdata stream as a segment boundary. The segment summary feature setcomputation comprises generating a number of features for each logicalsegment, such that sufficiently resembled logical segments are likely tohave one or more matching features, and higher resemblance tends togenerate more matching features. In 304, logical segments and theircomputed summary feature sets are sent to segment store. In 306, segmentdescriptors corresponding to the logical segments are received back. In308, the mapping from data address information to corresponding logicalsegments and segment descriptors is maintained. This mapping is usedduring a content store read process.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a process forgenerating logical segments and computing summary feature sets. In someembodiments, a summary feature set is used to characterize the segmentand to be able to determine resemblance between segments. In someembodiments, the process of FIG. 4 is used to implement 302 of FIG. 3.In the example shown, in 400 logical segments are generated viaanchoring. Anchoring is the process of locating a segment boundary basedon a criterion. In some embodiments, the anchoring criterion compriseshaving a hash of a portion of the data stream equal a value. In 402,variable-length subsegments or shingles are sampled from the segment. Ashingle is a fixed length subsegment of the segment. Selecting avariable-length subsegment or a shingle is based on a criterion wherethe criterion is based at least in part on the values from the segment.In various embodiments, selecting a plurality of fixed length orvariable length subsegments is based at least in part on the weightedsum of the bytes in a first running window of fixed size for some bytesin the segment.

In some embodiments, shingle sampling is determined by computing the(weighted) sum of the bytes in a running window of fixed size(potentially different from the shingle size) on a per-byte basis forall bytes in the segment. A shingle is sampled if the (weighted) sum ofthe bytes in the running window satisfies certain criterion—for example,the bottom 6 or 7 bits of the weighted sum are all 1's. The locationwith a fixed relation to the satisfying window position may be used asthe starting position of the shingle sample.

In some embodiments, variable-length subsegment sampling is determinedby computing the (weighted) sum of the bytes in a running window offixed size on a per-byte basis for all bytes in the segment. Avariable-length subsegment is sampled if the (weighted) sum of the bytesin the running window satisfies certain criterion—for example, thebottom 6 or 7 bits of the weighted sum are all 1's. The location with afixed relation to the satisfying window position may be used as thestarting position of the variable-length subsegment sample. In someembodiments, the end position of the variable-length subsegment samplemay be determined using the same running window mechanism as thedetermination for the staring position, under various combinations ofwindow size, weighting formula, satisfaction criterion, and fixed offsetfrom satisfying window position. In some embodiments, the startingposition and the end position of a variable-length subsegment sample aredetermined using the same running window and (weighted) sum.

In 404, a class of functions is computed for the variable-lengthsubsegment or shingle samples. In some embodiments, the class, or set,of functions comprise a set of linear functions. In some embodiments,the set of functions comprise m_(k)x_(k)+a_(k) wherein m_(k) and a_(k)are different predetermined values for k=1 to n and wherein x_(k)comprises a function of the variable-length subsegment or shinglesamples. In some embodiments, the set or class of a functions comprisem_(k)x +a_(k) where the class of functions is specified by havingdifferent values for m_(k) and a_(k) for k=1 to n and where x is afunction of the variable-length subsegment or shingle samples (e.g., ahash of a subsegment or shingle sample, a sum of the bytes in asubsegment or shingle sample, etc.). In various embodiments, the classof functions is any series of functions that provides a degree oforthogonality. In various embodiments, the function of thevariable-length subsegment or shingle samples comprises SHA-1 (SecureHash Algorithm 1), MD5 (Message-Digest algorithm 5), RIPEMD-160 (RACEIntegrity Primitives Evaluation Message Digest 160-bit version), a Rabinhash, or any other appropriate hash function. In 406, a subset offunction results is selected. In some embodiments, the subset—a firstsubset—of function results, or values, is used in determiningresemblance between a first segment and a second segment. In someembodiments, a plurality of extrema values of the function results areselected—for example, six of the lowest values (minima) are selected. Invarious embodiments, the extrema values comprise minima values or maximavalues or minima and maxima values. In some embodiments, the subset offunction results is passed to 408 for processing. In other embodiments,the underlying variable-length subsegment or shingle samplescorresponding to the subset of function results are further processed byhashing to another subset of function results. In some embodiments, thisother subset—a second subset—of function results, or values, is used indetermining resemblance between a first segment and a second segment. In408, a set of the results is composed for the segment. The set is asummary feature set, and each value of the set is a feature. A sketch isa summary feature set with a fixed number of features, and whosecorresponding feature values should be matched on a per feature basisfor the resemblance comparison between any pair of logical segments. Insome embodiments, the minima values of the function results are composedin a predetermined order (e.g., minima value of the first function tominima value of the last function of the set of function) to producefeatures in a sketch. In some embodiments, multiple features, each ofwhich is composed of six minima, form a segment sketch. In someembodiments, this set of results—a third subset—is composed based atleast in part on the first subset of function results. In someembodiments, this composed subset—the third subset—of function results,or values, is used in determining resemblance between a first segmentand a second segment. In some embodiments, the order of composing thethird subset of values is pre-determined and independent of the value inthe first subset. In some embodiments, a fourth subset of results iscomposed based at least in part on the second subset of results(produced by hashing as mentioned above). In some embodiments, thiscomposed subset—the fourth subset—of function results, or values, isused in determining resemblance between a first segment and a secondsegment. In some embodiments, the order of composing the fourth subsetof values is pre-determined and independent of the value in the secondsubset.

In some embodiments, a summary feature set is determined by (a)selecting m subsegments of a first segment; (b) selecting n functions;and (c) for function i, wherein i is a value from 1 to n, (i) computingm values f_(i)(subsegment_(j)) wherein j is a value from 1 to m; and(ii) selecting an i^(th) extrema value comprising a minimum or maximumvalue from the m values; and (d) selecting a first subset of values fromthe n extrema values.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a content storeprocess during reading. In some embodiments, the content store readingprocess of FIG. 5 is implemented in content store 202 of FIG. 2. In theexample shown, in 500 address information is received from theinput/output block. The address information corresponds to a request toread data from a file at a certain offset for a certain length. In 501,the address information is mapped to relevant logical segments andcorresponding segment descriptors. In 502, segment descriptors areissued to segment store. In 504, corresponding logical segment data arereceived back. In 506, the relevant data covered by the extent of theaddress information is transmitted to the input/output block.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a segment storeprocess during writing. In some embodiments, the segment store writingprocess of FIG. 6 is implemented in segment store 204 of FIG. 2. In theexample shown, in 600 resemblance is determined. The closest e0 or e1previously stored to the current segment is found using a match of thesegment summary feature set, or of the segment sketch. In 602, it isdetermined if there is a match. If there is not a match, then controlpasses to 610.

If there is a match, then in 604 the closest e0 and e1 are retrievedfrom storage. The retrieval includes reconstruction of the mostresembling e0 for one-level delta coding and the most resembling e0 ore1 for two-level delta coding. An e0 is stored as a d0 in segment store,whereas an e1 is stored as a d0 plus a d1. Therefore, the retrievalinvolves reading one physical segment in one-level delta coding, andreading either one or two physical segments in two-level delta coding.All physical segments are stored in locally compressed form in segmentstore. If only one physical segment is read, it will be locallydecompressed to form the e0; if two physical segments are read, theywill be locally decompressed, and composed in delta decoding to form thee1. Delta decoding is only applied if the most resembling e0/e1 is an e1under two-level delta coding. The decoding is the process of composingan e1 from the underlying d0 and d1.

In 606, the new segment is delta encoded from the closest e0 and e1.Delta encoding is the process of generating the difference between theincoming logical segment and an existing e0 or e1. If the new segment isa new e1, delta encoding is the process of generating the d1 between newsegment and the most resembling e0 segment (generated from 604). If newsegment is an e2, delta encoding is the process of generating the d2between the new segment and the most resembling e0/e1 (generated from604).

In some embodiments, there is a check to make sure that the differencebetween the new segment and the closest e0 and e1 is small. Becausesegment summary feature set or segment sketch matching only presents theprobabilistic evidence of resemblance (or un-resemblance for thatmatter), the size ratio test after delta encoding between the newsegment and its most resembling logical segment (either an e0 or an e1)can be performed to ascertain the roles of the new segment and its mostresembling segment are classified correctly. If the ratio of the deltasize over a function of either the new segment size or the closest e0/e1size or both exceeds a pre-specified threshold (e.g., one third), newsegment should be made a new e0 regardless of its previousclassification. Under two-level delta coding, if the ratio of the deltasize over a function of either the new segment size or the closest e0/e1size or both is less than a pre-specified threshold (e.g., onetwentieth), new segment should be made a new e2 if its previousclassification is a new e1.

In 608, segments and deltas are combined, if desired. Multiple d1's ord2's produced from different logical segments of the same logical streamcan be combined into a single physical segment. Delta combining can beconsidered as a size normalization procedure so that the averagephysical segment size is of at least a certain size (e.g., 100K ormore). This should give good local compression result, despite deltaencoding. More importantly, it generates fewer entries in the locationindex. It makes particular sense to combine d1's of the same logicalstream in one-level delta coding, or d2's of the same logical stream intwo-level delta coding, because they are not shared, and die togetherwhen the corresponding file is removed. In some embodiments, d1's of thesame logical stream in two-level delta coding are combined. If deltacombining is applied, proper bookkeeping should be done so thatindividual difference in a combined physical segment can be recoveredlater on in a delta separation process for reading; in particular,relevant segment descriptors returned from segment store to contentstore should include information as to how to recover respectivedifferences from the combined segment during delta separation.Regardless of whether delta combining is applied, each logical segmentsent to segment store from content store, should result in a segmentdescriptor sent back from segment store to content store. Correspondenceinformation should be maintained in delta combining so that the numberand the order of segment descriptors returned from segment store tocontent store are proper.

In some embodiments, segment identifier is computed. The segmentidentifier computation is the process of assigning a unique identifierto each new physical segment. This identifier is returned to contentstore as a part of a segment descriptor so that the physical segment canbe read in the future. In various embodiments, the segment identifiercomprises a fingerprint of the physical segment or a serially generatednumber.

In some embodiments, a delta identifier is computed. The deltaidentifier computation is the process of assigning a unique identifierto each new delta. This identifier is returned to content store as apart of a segment descriptor so that the delta can be read in thefuture. In various embodiments, the delta identifier comprises afingerprint of the delta or a serially generated number. In variousembodiments, delta comprises a one-level delta, a two-level delta, orany other appropriate delta.

In some embodiments, the segment descriptor is transmitted to contentstore. This is the process of returning the segment descriptor fromsegment store to content store for each logical segment sent fromcontent store to segment store. A segment descriptor allows the readingof a logical segment from segment store by content store. Each segmentdescriptor should include all segment identifiers for physical segmentsinvolved in the composition of the logical segment; if any physicalsegment is combined from multiple differences, offset and sizeinformation to find the relevant difference within the physical segmentshould be present in the segment descriptor as well. In someembodiments, it is desirable to have the segment descriptor feedbackoccur after the corresponding physical segment has been written to amore permanent memory (e.g., NVRAM) so that the logical segment willsurvive software crashes or hardware crashes when content store receivesthe segment descriptor feedback from segment store

In 610, the segment and delta are locally compressed. Local compressionis the process of compressing a new physical segment from theuncompressed form into the locally compressed form using onlyinformation within the physical segments itself In various embodiments,a local compression algorithm comprises Ziv-Lempel compression,Lempel-Ziv (LZ) compression, Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) compression, or anyother appropriate compression.

In 612, the locally compressed data is packed in containers. Containerpacking generates containers from new physical segments, which includessegments and deltas, in the locally compressed form. When enough newphysical segments from the same logical stream have accumulated toapproximate the size of a container, they are packed into a containerand written to a container store for storage to disk. New physicalsegments are properly shadowed and stored in a permanent memory (e.g.,NVRAM) to protect against data losses due to software crashes orhardware failures, until these physical segments have been written todisk via containers. After a container is written to disk, containerstore notifies segment store. Segment store can safely remove allrelevant physical segments from permanent memory (e.g., NVRAM). Inaddition, relevant segment identifier to disk container mappings areadded to both the resemblance index and the location index so thatfuture logical segments can benefit from the resemblance to previouse0's and e1's.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a process forresemblance determination. In some embodiments, the process of FIG. 7implements 600 of FIG. 6. On a high level, segment resemblancedetermination finds the most resembling prior logical segment to a newlogical segment. More precisely, it determines for a new logical segmentif there are prior e0's with one or more matching features and which onehas the most matching features or under two-level delta coding, if thereare prior e1's with one or more matching features, and which one has themost matching features. If the answers to both questions are negative,the new logical segment is a new e0. Otherwise, the e0 or e1 (undertwo-level delta coding) with the most matching features will be used todelta encode the new logical segment. Depending on how large the deltais, the new logical segment is a redundant e0 or an e1 under one-leveldelta coding, a redundant e0, a redundant e1, an e2 or a new el undertwo-level delta coding. A new e0 or e1 (under two-level delta codingonly) can be used to delta encode future logical segments. In someembodiments, an in-memory resemblance index is maintained to performsegment resemblance determination. All new e0's (and e1's undertwo-level delta coding) are entered into this index. This index iscomposed of multiple feature sub-indices, each of which corresponds toone feature and indicates, for that feature, if a particular value ispresent, and what e0's and e1's possess this value.

In the example shown in FIG. 7, the previously stored prior e0 (or e1)is potentially the most closely matched segment to the input logicalsegment, and is initialized to Nil at Start. In 700, it is determined ifthere are more prior e0's (or e1's) with at least one matching featureto the input segment while trying to locate a closest match. If thereare no more such prior e0's (or e1's), then the process ends. If thereare more such prior e0's (or e1's), then in 701 the next prior e0 (ore1) with at least one matching feature is selected, and control passesto 702. In 702, it is determined if the prior e0 (or e1) has the mostmatching features in the summary feature set or sketch to the inputsegment. The most matching features in the summary feature set or sketchto the input segment by the prior e0 (or e1) would indicate a likelyclosest match to the input segment by the prior e0 (or e1) itself. If itdoes not have the most matching features, then control is passed to 700.If it does have the most matching features, then in 704 the prior e0 (ore1) is saved as potentially the closest match and in 706 thecorresponding summary feature set or sketch is also saved and controlpasses to 700.

In some embodiments, for each new segment, ns, resemblance determinationis done through the following feature test:

-   For each feature k, determine the set of e0's and e1's in    resemblance index matching ns with the same feature value. S[k],    where each element in S[k] is of the form <s, 1>, and s is the    segment identifier; If no base does, S[k] is NULL.-   Merge S[k] for all features {k} into a single set S where each    element is of the form <s, c>, s is the segment identifier, and c is    the count of feature values that s matches ns. If no base does, S is    NULL.-   If S is NULL, no e0's or e1's resemble ns, and ns should be made a    new e0.-   Otherwise, find <s, c>in S whose c is the largest. To break ties    with the same c, <s, c>with the most recent s is used.-   For one-level delta coding, return s as being most resembling, and    ns is coded as s plus a d1. Note s is always an e0 under one-level    delta coding and the d1 will be empty if ns is a duplicate of s.-   Otherwise, (for two-level delta coding,) if c from the last step    exceeds a pre-determined threshold e2 feature (to ensure ns can be    delta encoded as s plus a d2), return s as being most resembling,    and ns is coded as s plus a d2. Note s can be either an e0 or an e1,    and the d2 is empty if ns is a duplicate of s.-   Otherwise, find <s, c>in S whose s is an e0, and whose c is the    largest. To break ties with the same c, <s, c>with the most recent    e0 is used.-   If no such <s, c>exists, or c is less than a pre-determined    threshold e0 feature (default to 1), no e0's or e1's resemble ns    enough, and ns should be made a new e0.-   Otherwise, return s as being most resembling, and ns should be made    a new e1.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a segment storeprocess for reading. In some embodiments, the process of FIG. 8 isimplemented in segment store 204 of FIG. 2. In some embodiments, theprocess of FIG. 8 is implemented in 604 of FIG. 6. In the example shown,in 800 data corresponding to segment descriptors (a d0, an optional d1under one-level delta coding, or a d0, an optional d1, an optional d2under two-level delta coding) are read out in locally compressed form.In 802, the locally compressed data is locally decompressed. The processof local decompression is to transform the locally compressed physicalsegment form read in 800 into uncompressed form. Local decompression isthe reverse of local compression in 610 of FIG. 6. In 804, deltaseparation is performed, if required. This step is only applied if thecorresponding difference is included in a combined physical segment.Delta combining combines multiple differences into a single physicalsegment during write. In particular, we can combine d1's of the samelogical stream in one-level delta coding, and d2's of the same logicalstream in two-level delta coding. Delta separation is the invertedprocess of getting an individual difference, be it a d1 or a d2, fromthe already locally decompressed combined segment during read. In 806,the data is delta decoded, if required. This step is only applied ifeither a d1 or a d2 is involved. It is the process of composing an e1from the underlying d0 and d1, or an e2 from the underlying d0 and d2,or an e2 from the underlying d0, d1, and d2. All individual differencesin a combined segment are likely read next to each other for reading. Itmakes sense to have an uncompressed combined segment cache so that allprocessing costs (in 800 and 802) associated with the combined segmentare amortized to all differences in the combined segment, as opposed tojust one difference in the combined segment.

Although the foregoing embodiments have been described in some detailfor purposes of clarity of understanding, the invention is not limitedto the details provided. There are many alternative ways of implementingthe invention. The disclosed embodiments are illustrative and notrestrictive.

1. A system for storage using resemblance of data segments comprising: aprocessor configure to: break up a new input data stream into aplurality of data segments, wherein a new segment comprises one of theplurality of data segments, and wherein the breaking up of the new inputdata stream is based at least in part on a hash of content of the datastream; determine that a new segment resembles a second prior storedsegment wherein the second prior stored segment is represented as afirst stored delta and a first prior stored segment, wherein resemblanceis based at least in part on a summary feature, wherein the summaryfeature set is determined by (a) selecting m subsegments of a firstsegment; (b) selecting n functions; and (c) for function i, wherein i isa value from 1 to n, (i) computing m values f_(i)(subsegment,) wherein jis a value from 1 to m; and (ii) selecting a summary value from the mvalues; and (d) selecting a first subset of values from the n summaryvalues; and determine a second delta between the new segment and thesecond prior stored segment; and store a representation of the newsegment based at least in part on the second delta; and a memory coupledwith the processor, wherein the memory is configured to provide theprocessor with instructions.
 2. A system as in claim 1, whereindetermining resemblance comprises comparing a summary feature set of thenew segment with a summary feature set of the second prior storedsegment.
 3. A system as in claim 1, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to store the new segment in the event that the new segmentdoes not resemble the second prior stored segment.
 4. A system as inclaim 1, wherein storing the representation of the new segment comprisesstoring the second delta, an indication of the first stored delta, andan indication of the first prior stored segment.
 5. A system as in claim1, wherein storing the representation of the new segment in the eventthat the second delta is larger than a predetermined threshold comprisesstoring the new segment.
 6. A system as in claim 1, wherein storing therepresentation of the new segment in the event that the second delta islarger than a predetermined threshold and the new segment resembles thefirst prior stored segment comprises storing a third delta and anindication of the first prior stored segment.
 7. A system as in claim 6,wherein the third delta comprises a difference between the new segmentand the first prior stored segment.
 8. A system as in claim 6, whereindetermining resemblance comprises comparing a summary feature set of thenew segment with a summary feature set of the first prior is storedsegment.
 9. A system as in claim 1, wherein storing the representationof the new segment comprises storing the second delta combined with afourth delta.
 10. A system as in claim 6, wherein storing therepresentation of the new segment comprises storing the third deltacombined with a fifth delta.
 11. A system as in claim 1, wherein storingthe representation of the new segment comprises locally compressing thenew segment.
 12. A system as in claim 1, wherein storing therepresentation of the new segment comprises locally compressing thesecond delta.
 13. A system as in claim 6, wherein storing therepresentation of the new segment comprises locally compressing thethird delta.
 14. A system as in claim 1, wherein an identifier iscomputed for the new segment.
 15. A system as in claim 1, wherein anidentifier is computed for the new segment and comprises a fingerprint.16. A system as in claim 1, wherein an identifier is computed for thenew segment and comprises a serially generated number.
 17. A system asin claim 1, wherein storing the representation of the new segmentcomprises storing the representation of the new segment in a backupstorage system.
 18. A system as in claim 1, wherein there is no loss ofinformation in storing the new segment.
 19. A method for storage usingresemblance of data segments, comprising: breaking up a new input datastream into a plurality of data segments, wherein a new segmentcomprises one of the plurality of data segments, and wherein thebreaking up of the new input data stream is based at least in part on ahash of content of the data stream; determining that a new segmentresembles a second prior stored segment wherein the second prior storedsegment is represented as a first stored delta and a first prior storedsegment, wherein resemblance is based at least in part on a summaryfeature, wherein the summary feature set is determined by (a) selectingm subsegments of a first segment; (b) selecting n functions; and (c) forfunction i, wherein i is a value from 1 to n, (i) computing m valuesf_(i)(subsegment_(j)) wherein j is a value from 1 to m; and (ii)selecting a summary value from the m values; and (d) selecting a firstsubset of values from the n summary values; and determining a seconddelta between the new segment and the second prior stored segment; andstoring a representation of the new segment based at least in part onthe second delta.
 20. A computer program product for storage usingresemblance of data segments, the computer program product beingembodied in a computer readable medium and comprising computerinstructions for: breaking up a new input data stream into a pluralityof data segments, wherein a new segment comprises one of the pluralityof data segments, and wherein the breaking up of the new input datastream is based at least in part on a hash of content of the datastream; determining that a new segment resembles a second prior storedsegment wherein the second prior stored segment is represented as afirst stored delta and a first prior stored segment, wherein resemblanceis based at least in part on a summary feature, wherein the summaryfeature set is determined by (a) selecting m subsegments of a firstsegment; (b) selecting n functions; and (c) for function i, wherein i isa value from 1 to n, (i) computing m values f_(i)(subsegment_(j))wherein j is a value from 1 to m; and (ii) selecting a summary valuefrom the m values; and (d) selecting a first subset of values from the nsummary values; and determining a second delta between the new segmentand the second prior stored segment; and storing a representation of thenew segment based at least in part on the second delta.